MAYETTA, Kan.— The South Dakota women's golf team placed three golfers in the top 20 and currently sit in sixth place after the first of three rounds of the 2024 Summit League Women's Golf Championship.
 
Emma Henningsson, one of two USD golfers returning from last year's runner up team, led the way for USD.  She played a consistent round of golf that saw her score a birdie and only three bogeys.  Her score of 74 was 2-over par and sees her tied for 14^th place after one round.
 
The Coyotes other returning golfer, Catie Nekola, was USD's next finisher.  Nekola knocked in three birdies in finishing with a 3-over par 75, good for a tie for 16^th place.  Equaling Nekolas score was freshman Ella Greenberg who also scored a 3-over par 75 to tie for 16^th place.  She had one birdie on the day.
 
A pair of freshmen rounded out USD's effort in round one.  Lara Gehring had a 6-over par 78 with three birdies.  She is tied for 30^th place.  Ava Schroeder had three birdies in her 8-over par 80 performance.  She is tied for 34^th place.  
 
USD's team score of 302 was 14-over par and sees them sitting in sixth place.  The Coyotes are four strokes behind South Dakota State for the Interstate Series point.  As the sixth-place team, South Dakota will tee off round two between 9:50am and 10:30am tomorrow.
 
Defending champion Denver leads the team race by eight strokes over second place Oral Roberts. The Pioneers' Anna Zanusso has a three-stroke lead over Oral Roberts' Avery Blake for the individual title. 
 
Fans can follow tomorrow's action here, and on Twitter/X @SDCoyotesWGolf.